


Sifting Through the Ashes

by Kelly_the_Ferret



Series: Leviathan Depths [15]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:15:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21786361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kelly_the_Ferret/pseuds/Kelly_the_Ferret
Summary: Aziraphale and Crowley have been searching for a missing trio of leviathans in order to save the world. If Gabriel blows his trumpet in the midst of a crisis, will the world still need to be saved?
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Gabriel/Raphael (Good Omens)
Series: Leviathan Depths [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1538272
Kudos: 9





	Sifting Through the Ashes

The hovering angel wiped his tears on a handkerchief and he flew backwards to avoid having his wings become further singed. Just then a large rock flew past his ear, and he turned to see that the entrance to the Kraken's cave had quadrupled in size.

Suddenly, a rending, brassy tone reverberated through the already rumbling air. Aziraphale squinted to bring the archangel into focus in spite of Gabriel's wildly erratic flight. He thought he could see the archangel brandishing his infamous trumpet. With another blast, the rock wall above the now-gaping cave entrance began to crumble downwards; the Ziz's massive nest crashed to the ground in a broken heap of dust and tree limbs.

Gabriel spiraled and flipped along a strategic path that took him in and out of the Kraken's lair with an alarming disregard for the falling debris. The principality covered his mouth in horror. Not only was he aware of the trumpet's grave implications, he was beginning to see that the careening warrior was carrying out an assault intended to entice the Kraken to withdraw into the mountain. Aziraphale waved his hand to prevent a boulder the size of the Bentley from knocking the archangel into a pursuing tentacle. 

His wings began to scream for relief, but with a glance downward, the angel saw that the ground was shaking too hard to stand upright on. He gritted his teeth, steeled his focus, and willed himself to remain aloft. He worked to provide cover for the archangel's wild attack.

Behind Aziraphale, the flames were beginning to die down. Where before the blaze had held the silhouettes of two leviathans, now only the Behemoth's outline remained. The heat slowly diminished as the flames' colors shifted from yellows to reds until all that remained was the coursing blue glow that flowed from Crowley.

She dropped to the ground when the pulsing waves lessened and then stopped. Crowley lay in a heap with her hair spread over her shoulders until a particularly strong boulder-shock bounced the dark figure back into the air. Her drained wings carried her ten more feet from the Behemoth before stranding her in the grass on her side. Crowley's legs tucked up to her chest, and her face pinched as a shiver moved through her. A hand waved as though fending off a nightmare, and Crowley returned to his masculine form. He lay curled up on the quaking ground, unaware of his surroundings.

* * * * *

Gabriel skated backwards as the last of the rockslide shifted into place. The mountain had caved in, creating a thick barrier wall over the entrance to the Kraken's network of submerged hideaways. The archangel slowly sank to the still-shaking ground in front of the rubble, and the principality moved to join him. 

"The Behemoth is burning. The Ziz started it." Aziraphale weakly reported.

Gabriel gave a grim nod and said, "She probably thought she was helping." 

The pair moved to the remaining giant's side with a wave of Gabriel's hand. The angels exchanged a look of doubtful surprise on seeing the monster up close again. Aziraphale reached out to trace the faint streaks of blue on the dense flesh in front of him. He stumbled along the quaking firmament and rushed back to the creature's ear.

Gabriel scanned his surroundings and thought he glimpsed the edge of an emerging sink hole through the grass. He walked closer and was relieved to find that it was only Crowley, still rolled in a ball. He gently lifted the unconscious figure from the shuddering ground and carried him into the air. When the scarlet-haired celestial stopped trembling he breathed deeply and opened a slitted eye. 

Gabriel gave a half-smile and asked, "Still a demon?"

Crowley glared in response, and sneered, "King of the fucking Mardi Gras now." His head sank backwards as he muttered, "The hell you lot always asking about, 'Still a demon?' nonsense." He slipped back out of consciousness.

Aziraphale rose from the hulk's side as the giant creature worked to pull its feet under itself. The principality’s flight followed a drooping path towards Gabriel and the limp demon. "Is he...?"

"He'll be fine." the hovering archangel stated. Observing the principality's exhausted struggle, he nodded his head towards the now-standing Behemoth. He led Aziraphale to the creature's broad back, where they landed. The skin beneath their feet still coursed with trails of blue light along the remaining slivers of healing wounds. 

"He's not yet strong enough to roar," Aziraphale reported. With an anxious look, he asked, "But does it even matter? You blew the trumpet..."

Crowley jolted to life and wriggled away from the archangel, landing on his feet with a venomous look. "You blew the horn!? After all that--" he waved his arms at the Behemoth all around them, "and now it was for nothing!"

Aziraphale sat down on the leathery Behemoth-ground and his head sank into his hands. His mind buzzed with flashes of books and people he had not said goodbye to. 

The archangel planted his feet and squared off against the demon. "What choice did I have?! I wasn't the one who woke the Kraken back up by starting a shouting match with a freakin' bird! He needed to be contained, and I acted! But just like always, you do these... IMPULSIVE! IDIOTIC-"

Crowley leaned close to Gabriel with a look that could have melted lead. He held his hands up to the sky on either side of his head, and shouted, "So you go and destroy the one thing that matters to me!?" He threw an arm out towards the sitting angel, "To us?! Or is this just what you do when things go wrong? Yeah, you just give up and throw it all away!"

Far below the storm on the Behemoth's back, the ground began to heave harder, throwing debris around like popcorn. Aziraphale looked up when their refuge stumbled, and he noticed the creature's head curving on its giant neck towards something on the ground. 

The angel stood and tried to get his warring companions' attention."Excuse me?! Hello?!” The failed mediator looked back and forth between the other two celestials as his wings unfolded again. He pulled himself aloft to try to see what the Behemoth had gone after, and he spied something shifting in the ash on the ground from the earlier blaze.

The Behemoth lowered its chin to the ground in front of a dusty fluff ball that had two spindly legs jutting towards the sky. Aziraphale watched as a striking white baby bird awkwardly climbed onto the giant's nose. The humongous creature smoothly lifted its foundling through the air, placing it near the explosive argument.

"Classy! Real CLASSY! Where do you think humans got the idea that redheads can't control their tempers?" the archangel shouted. In an appalling English accent, he continued, "Look, right, I'm always angry and I break crap for fun-"

Aziraphale placed two fingers in his mouth and blew a shrill whistle which pierced the air.

A truly awful American accent responded, "Yeah, and I look down on humanity because I keep a stick up my ass _this long_ ," as Crowley spread his arms as wide as they would go.

The indignant principality inserted himself into the 10 centimeter gap in the feud. He made a pressured grunting noise while he twisted himself sideways, dragged a hand onto each combatant's chest, and shoved the pair apart. Crowley and Gabriel stumbled backwards gracelessly as their referee shouted, "Look!" before they could jump straight back into their fight. 

The three celestials stood in a row looking at the new arrival. A dandelion puff the size of the bookshop sat on its bottom with its legs splayed out in front of it. Its head protruded directly from the body, having no neck yet to speak of. The creature's eyes looked vacantly in two different directions and it released a tiny, joyful screech at the trio.

"Welcome back! Who's a good girl?" Gabriel suddenly cooed as he stepped up to pat the ashling's foot.

"She has your eyes," Crowley dryly called.


End file.
